NC court backs conviction for Democratic strategist’s murder

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – An appeals court is upholding the murder conviction of a North Carolina man who fatally stabbed a rising star in state Democratic Party politics and wounded her husband.

A state Court of Appeals panel ruled unanimously Tuesday that Jonathan Broyhill got a fair trial. Defense lawyers had objected that a prison psychiatrist wasn’t allowed to testify at Broyhill’s trial about the mental problems he suffered more than a year after the killing.

Broyhill was convicted of first-degree murder for the 2013 stabbing death of 29-year-old Jamie Hahn and seriously hurting her husband in the couple’s Raleigh home.

Broyhill killed Hahn after she allegedly confronted him about money missing from a congressional campaign. Broyhill admitted stealing the money and planning suicide before the killing.